With Nas’ eagerly awaited The Lost Tapes 2hitting streaming platforms this month, many fans were understandably elated to find the new track “Jarreau of Rap (Skatt Attack)” — the first single — was released on Friday (July 12). However, it wasn’t what everyone may have expected.
With production credits that includes names like Kanye West, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz, Hit-Boy, Pete Rock, No I.D., Alchemist, and Statik Selektah, it’s fair to have anticipated music in the vein of his first Lost Tapes.
What Nas delivered, though, was a genre-bending (and obviously polarizing) Al Jarreau sampled track — that also features Keyon Harrold, a renowned trumpeter whose Hip Hop track record includes work with JAY-Z (“Roc Boys”), Mac Miller (“Stay”), and 50 Cent (“Touch the Sky”).
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Fans, obviously, had their own takes on the track.
For others, the song made perfect sense. His father is renowned Jazz musician Olu Dara (who first collaborated with his son on the song “Life’s a Bitch” off of the holy grail of Hip Hop Illmatic). An experimental jazz record, paying a tribute of sorts to the late Jarreau, shouldn’t be as shocking as it is intriguing — especially considering his upbringing.
The projectis set to feature outtakes from the sessions that led to some of his more debated later releases. Was “Jarreau of Rap” the warning shot you hoped it would be? Sound off in the comments.
The Lost Tapes 2 drops Friday (July 19) via Mass Appeal.
